After the presentation comes the North American premiere of the Brazilian film, The Way He Looks.

From the festival's website:

The Way He Looks is based on the award winning short I Don't Want To Go Back Alone. Leonardo is a blind teenager dealing with an overprotective mother while trying to live a more independent life. To the disappointment of his best friend, Giovana, he plans to go on an exchange program abroad. When Gabriel, a cute new student in town, arrives at their classroom, new feelings blossom in Leonardo making him question his plans. This sweet, charming, engaging coming-of-age story is truly a gem for audience members of all ages.

Following the screening, the festival holds an opening night party at the Albion Hotel, 1650 James Ave., from 10 p.m. to 12:30 a.m. Saturday.

Tickets are $20 for the opening night screening, $40 for the screening and after-party and $25 for the party only. Click here to purchase.

Click here for the complete festival program schedule and check back daily for updates and photo galleries.

Now on DVD: The Day It Snowed in Miami, a film by Joe Cardona in association with the Miami Herald and WPBT2 that chronicles Miami-Dade County's 1977 human-rights ordinance battle.

The documentary’s title serves as a metaphor: the ordinance that sparked the outrage was debated by commissioners on an uncharacteristically frigid night and some opponents at the time remarked that the ordinance would pass "when hell freezes over." The morning after the ordinance was approved - Jan. 19, 1977 - Miamians woke up to snowflakes for the first and, so far, only time.

The ordinance and subsequent battle in South Florida between liberal supporters and conservative singer Anita Bryant's Save Our Children group, thrust gay rights into the national spotlight for the first time and the film documents the LGBT movement through the present.

Carlos Curbelo, a Miami Republican running for U.S. Congress, tells Mimi Planas and a group of Log Cabin Republicans that he supports marriage equality for gay and lesbian couples.

Said Curbelo, a Miami-Dade County School Board member: "I have many gay friends. They are hard-working people. They love this country. And quite frankly I think most of them would be Republican if some in our party wouldn't express themselves in such an unfortunate way."

Curbelo also said he believes that religious institutions that don't support marriage equality should be allowed to opt out.

ASSOCIATED PRESS

BANDAR SERI BEGAWAN, Brunei -- Brunei on Thursday embraced a form of Islamic Shariah criminal law that includes harsh penalties, a move slammed by international rights group as a step backward for human rights.

The tiny Southeast Asian nation began phasing in a version of Shariah that allows for penalties such as amputation for theft and stoning for adultery and homosexuality. Most of the punishments can be applied to non-Muslims, who account for about one-third of the 440,000 people in the oil-rich country.

Sultan Hassanal Bolkiah has introduced the law as a "great achievement" for Brunei.

"The decision to implement the (Shariah penal code) is not for fun but is to obey Allah's command as written in the Quran," he said in a speech Wednesday to announce the launch first phase of the law.

From Thursday, Brunei citizens can be fined or jailed by Islamic courts for offences like not performing Friday prayers, pregnancy out of wedlock, propagating other religions and indecent behavior.

More severe punishments such as flogging, amputation of limbs and stoning for offences such as theft, adultery and sodomy will be introduced in phases over the next two years.

The US-based Human Rights Campaign, which promotes lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender equality, condemned the changes as "draconian," saying the death penalty for gay sex, the eighth nation in the world to have such a law, was "horrific and sickening."

HRC Condemns Government of Brunei’s Decision to Soon Allow Death Penalty for Same-Sex Activity

WASHINGTON –– The Human Rights Campaign (HRC) condemns today’s decision by the government of Brunei to allow a series of draconian penal code reforms to take effect that will soon include stoning as a possible punishment for engaging in same-sex activity. “LGBT citizens in many countries around the world remain persistent targets of harassment, arrest, violence, and torture for simply being who they are,” said Ty Cobb, director of Global Engagement at the Human Rights Campaign. “The decision by the government of Brunei to soon become the 8th nation to allow the death penalty against LGBT people is horrific and sickening.” In October 2013, Sultan Hassanal Bolkiah––who is the absolute ruler of Brunei and is considered one of the world’s wealthiest people––announced that he was amending the nation’s criminal laws and introducing amputation, flogging, and stoning as possible punishments for a variety of so-called offenses.

These changes were scheduled to be implemented in three phases beginning on April 22, but were temporarily put on hold by the government of Brunei earlier this month. But according to a royal degree issued today, the first of three phases of implementation will now begin tomorrow. The second phase, which will allow amputation as a possible punishment for some crimes will take effect later this year, and the third phase, which will allow stoning as a possible punishment for same-sex activity, will begin in 2015.

In April, the United Nations Commission on Human Rights condemned the penal code reforms, saying it was "deeply concerned" and that stoning was considered to be "torture or other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment" under international law.

The Human Rights Campaign is America's largest civil rights organization working to achieve lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender equality. By inspiring and engaging all Americans, HRC strives to end discrimination against LGBT citizens and realize a nation that achieves fundamental fairness and equality for all.